I believe I didn’t really absorb the significance of D-Day and its aftermath until I visited some cemeteries, particularly the American cemetery situated about halfway between Colleville sur Mer and St. Laurent sur Mer. In 2003, John Flaherty and I visited this cemetery and a British, a Canadian, and two German cemeteries.
There are 28 military cemeteries in Normandy, 16 British & Commonwealth, two American, two Canadian, one Polish, one French, and six German. John told me that over 130,000 servicemen were killed in the Battle for Normandy, most of them German. Until the First Gulf War, British war dead were always buried near where they fell, which explains the large number of British cemeteries. American families have the choice of bringing their loved ones home. As a result, less than 20% of those Americans who perished liberating France are buried here. The Germans were originally buried in as many as 1,400 locations around Normandy. These have been centralized into the six current cemeteries, which hold over 58,000 bodies. This does not count those in undiscovered graves, missing in action, or re-buried elsewhere in France or Germany.
THE AMERICAN CEMETERY AT COLLEVILLE/ST LAURENT
If you saw Saving Private Ryan, you would recognize Colleville/St. Laurent. The pine trees shown in the movie are on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, where so many Americans died.
The first time I visited I had a serious problem. I couldn’t stop crying for about the first half-hour. The place is set up to elicit emotion, with the long central walk to the chapel, the Memorial, and the Garden of Remembrance, whose wall is inscribed with the names of 1,557 servicemen who were never found and the perfectly aligned graves of 9,386 Americans who gave their lives here and whose remains their families decided to leave here. I did not have the same reaction when I visited other cemeteries. Maybe it was triggered by my recent viewing of Band of Brothers.
I finally did settle down enough to walk the grounds and help John place flowers on the graves he’s adopted as a member of Association Les Fleurs de la Memoire. One of the graves belongs to Sgt. Leo Flaherty, John’s namesake, if not his distant relative.
The Chapel, in the center of the grounds, is quite small and is intended for individual contemplation and prayer. The care given to the grounds here is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Each day the graves are tidied up and any flowers or other debris is taken away. Each Italian marble grave marker carries the soldier’s name, rank, unit, and the name of his home state. All the crosses and Stars of David face the west, towards America. There are three Medal of Honor recipients buried here, including General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. We visit his grave and some others that John has information about. In 2004, Tom and I wandered around on our own, trying to take in the enormity of the sacrifices these and other Americans made to win WW II.
I count visiting this cemetery as one of the most moving moments in my life.
THE AMERICAN CEMETERY AT ST JAMES
I’ve never visited this cemetery, but John Flaherty assured me it is beautiful and worth seeing if time allows. St James is the smaller of the two American cemeteries in Normandy. Its 28 acres are on the border of Brittany and Normandy. A cemetery was started here just after the area was liberated in August 1944. The stained glass windows in the chapel show all the major battles fought in the liberation of Normandy. The cemetery contains the remains of 4,410 servicemen who lost their lives fighting in the area, including 95 “Known but to God.”
THE BRITISH CEMETERY AT HERMANVILLE
When we visited this cemetery, I learned quite a bit about how the British treat their war dead. All 16 of the cemeteries in Normandy are looked after by the British War Graves Commission, which has responsibility for all the Commonwealth graves in Europe from both world wars. The cemeteries also contain Germans who were originally buried here and never disinterred. As I mentioned earlier, it is the custom of the British Army that a soldier killed in battle is buried near where he fell, even in local churchyards. Each headstone has the name and rank and Regimental insignia of the soldier together with his age and date of death. A simple personal message chosen by his relatives is often included at the foot of the headstone.
Though Hermanville is one of the smaller British Cemeteries in Normandy, it is beautifully landscaped and contains a Norman-style chapel and visitor center as well as a Cross of Sacrifice, which can be found in most British military cemeteries. It is the last resting place for 1,005 Allied soldiers who fell in the battle to take Sword beach and the surrounding area. I didn’t have the emotional reaction I had at Colleville/St. Laurent, but I was still deeply touched, especially when reading the personal messages on the headstones.
THE CANADIAN CEMETERY AT BÉNY – RIVIERS
We only drove by this cemetery because of time constraints. It is beautifully situated on high ground overlooking the sea. It contains 2,049 servicemen who fell in the early days of the invasion. All but five are Canadian. I recommend stopping. I regret that we didn’t.
THE BRITISH CEMETERY AT BAYEUX
This is another cemetery we only drove by. It is the largest Commonwealth WW II cemetery in France. This cemetery is the last resting place for over 4,600 Commonwealth soldiers, airmen and sailors, and some of the opposing forces. They come from the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Italy, France, Russia, and Germany. John filled me in on some interesting facts. For instance, at first glance, all the headstones look the same, but there are many differences depending on nationality. If comrades died together and could not be identified, because they died in a plane crash or a tank, their markers are placed together with two or more headstones, depending on the number who lost their lives.
THE GERMAN CEMETERY AT LA CAMBE
We visited two German cemeteries, La Cambe and Orglandes. La Cambe is the largest German Cemetery in Normandy, with 21,222 graves. At one time it was an American cemetery and the fallen of both sides were buried here in two fields by The American Graves Registration Service since the Germans were in no position to bury their own dead. After the war, the Americans interred here were either sent to America or to Coleville/St Laurent. In 1954, the French and Germans signed a treaty on war graves, and it was decided to re-bury all the fallen Germans in six cemeteries.
The German War Graves Commission (The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfusorge) accepted the task of identifying the last resting places of the German troops, who were buried in over 1,400 villages scattered over northern France. Unlike the American and British War Graves Commission, the German Commission is entirely voluntary and relies on gifts and collections to further its work. During the summer months, John told me, you can see German school children tending the graves. They volunteer to work with the Volksbund during their school holidays. It is one of the ways the Volksbund hope to promote peace. There is an interesting museum across the road from the cemetery entrance that illustrates what the Volksbund does and discreetly solicits contributions for its work.
Most of the graves have at least three bodies. John explained that the Germans say this is to show comradeship in death, but he adds that a more likely explanation is that after the war the French were reluctant to give the ground required for individual plots. Under the huge Maltese cross in the center of the cemetery lie 207 unknown solders, along with 89 who have been identified. I also learned that victims of the war in Normandy are still being found, even after 50 years.
As we drove away, I noticed hundreds of trees planted in neat rows. John explained that the Volksbund student volunteers plant many trees every year on the roads leading to this cemetery as a symbol of peace and the hope that France and Germany will never again go to war with each other--very impressive.
THE GERMAN CEMETERY AT ORGLANDES
This site was also a provisional cemetery for American dead and those abandoned by the retreating German Army. It contains 10,152 remains. Each grave site contains six or more bodies for reasons mentioned above. I no longer had to wonder how a cemetery with so many soldiers could be so small. It is very poignant to see a cross with the names of six soldiers on it. One grave, John showed me, contains the bodies of 22 German POWs who died loading explosives near Bayeux. Their remains were impossible to separate.
I hope these cemeteries helped the post-war healing process.